Beers Of The Week: Top Class Ale From Football's Capital Of Cryarsing

Hammerton's N7 and Brewhouse's West Coast IPA make any trip to see Arsenal worthwhile – you won't be weeping into these ales

I HAD TO go to Highbury Corner this week. What was my mission? To find out who put the Arse in cryarsing? No, we all know about Arsenal’s insane level of whinging. Yes, the world is conspiring against you, Gooners.

I had a meeting but I thought I’d use the occasion to pop into the House Of Hammerton on Holloway Road and have an N7, a beer I really like.

This is a pub I tried to pop into if I got away from the Emirates early enough. It’s definitely worth a visit.

However, it doesn’t open until 4pm so I found myself with an hour to kill. What do you do when you’re waiting for a pub to open? Find another pub. It’s obvious.

I decided on the Brewhouse and Kitchen just off Highbury Corner. This is part of a chain of 21 brewpubs across England and Wales.

There’s a nod to Arsenal inside. A piano has the names of Gunners greats painted all over it. Was the artist a fan? Questionable. Peter Storey is listed as ‘Story’ and Patrick Vieira is missing the second ‘i’ in his surname. At least Bergkamp had both his ‘n’s. ‘Denis’ would have tipped me over the edge.

Scowling with disapproval, it was off to the bar.

This was much more interesting than a graffitied piano. One of the house beers was a West Coast IPA (5.5%). It was time to see if the brewer paid more attention to detail than the painter.

The answer was yes. This beer was everything a West Coaster should be. Hoppy, resinous and very drinkable. Much better than I had anticipated. A quality drop.

My mate started on the American Pale Ale (4.8%), which was very good but, after a sip of the West Coast IPA, he changed up for the second pint. Both of these keg ales were top class.

West Coast IPA up front, American Pale at the back

The question was, should this be beer of the week? There was an obvious solution. It’ll be beers of the week. With that, off to the House Of Hammerton.

I’m a fan of the N1, 4.1% cask pale. But I was here for the N7, a 5.2% keg IPA. The N7 has a touch of the west coasts about it. It balances sweetness and bitterness beautifully. Perhaps it was a bit too cold – it improved as it warmed up – but it was highly satisfying.

N7

Hammerton is an excellent brewery. Crunch, their 5.3% peanut butter stout is worth trying.

The brewery’s taproom is near Caledonian Road & Barnsbury overground station, some 20 minute’s walk from King’s Cross. If you’re going to the Emirates for a 3pm kickoff, it’s a good option.

One thing’s for sure. Even close to the epicentre of cryarsing, you won’t be weeping into your beer when you drink these ales. North London forever. I get that now.

• I was doing this on Mondays but decided to vary things. But there will be one piece every week. I’m only going to write about beers I like so don’t expect me to be slaughtering Carling. And if you’re interested in unusual beers, read my espionage novel Collusion – it’s two protagonists are united by a love of beer and drink the likes of Westvleteren, Cantillon and Alesmith while the world is falling apart around them